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motivate

mo·ti·vate [ mṓtə vàyt ] (past and past participle mo·ti·vat·ed, present participle mo·ti·vat·ing, 3rd person present singular mo·ti·vates)


transitive verb 
Definition:
 
1. give somebody incentive: to give somebody a reason or incentive to do something

2. make somebody willing: to make somebody feel enthusiastic, interested, and committed to something

3. cause somebody's behavior: to be the reason for something that somebody does
motivated purely by greed

[Mid-19th century. <motive, after French motiver "motivate"]

mo·ti·vat·ed adjective
mo·ti·va·tor noun
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